Hyperthermia is reemerging on to the cancer treatment stage. There is growing acceptance of hyperthermia's role as a radiosensitizer, its effectiveness when used with chemotherapy, and maybe its most important role, in immunomodulation.
Pyrexar Medical receives requests to introduce our hyperthermia systems into new countries every month. In 2015, we were selling in 9 countries; three years later, the count has grown to well over 36 countries. But the road is long from introduction to sale and is often drawn-out with regulatory filings, physician education, toward eventual acceptance. That is why we are so thankful for physicians like Dr. Gi-Ming Lai, Director of the Wan Fang Cancer Center, and his team at the Taipei Municipal Wan Fang Hospital, part of the Taipei Medical University in Taiwan.
The clinical data for hyperthermia, and specifically the BSD-2000 Deep Regional Hyperthermia system is very impressive. But potential customers often want to see a device in a treatment environment to understand workflow and treatment planning. So when a new distributor from the region requested to visit a reference site, we reached out to our partner network, and Linden Bioscience of Taiwan answered the call.
"Wan Fang is a well-respected center in Taiwan, and Dr. Lai's experience with hyperthermia is unparalleled in the region," says Tainang Huang, president of Linden Bioscience. "They have a well-outfitted radiation oncology department and a strong team in medical oncology under Dr. Lai's direction." Wan Fang was the first JCI accredited hospital in Taiwan. The 730-bed facility has more than 350 full-time physicians and over 2000 additional staff members because it is affiliated with Taipei Medical University, many doctors in training from the university complete internships at Wan Fang.
We believe with solid partnerships and a willingness to share knowledge, hyperthermia will continue to grow and serve cancer patients around the globe.